I know, I know. Two weeks without any new recipes. I have failed you guys, once again. BUT this time will be different. This time, I pinky promise that I am back to my regular routine for good! Summer got the best of me y'all. But now that September is here and pumpkin season is upon us, I am ready to rock and roll! You know what else is happening this September? Cheryl of 40 Aprons is going to be a mommy! Yes, that's right! Her baby boy is due to arrive quite soon! She shall call him Leo. And he shall be hers. He shall be her squishy. I will forever love that quote from Finding Nemo. But seriously, I'm over the moon for Cheryl. And to show it, I decided to host her a virtual baby shower, alongside Melissa of Simply Whisked . So, SURPRISE CHERYL! Welcome to your virtual baby shower! I come bearing lactation cookies! Whether or not you plan to breastfeed Leo, you are going to love these cookies!

Oh happy day! My fellow food blogger Zainab of Blahnik Baker is having a baby boy and today, the food blogosphere is throwing her a virtual baby shower! Hip hip hooray! Virtual baby showers are the best. All the secret planning and gathering of recipes is so exciting! But my favorite part is when said blogger wakes up to find the interwebs celebrating them. I think we need to get close family and friends involved in these things because it would be GOLDEN to capture that very moment they log on to their computer and realize what's going on! I know I would FLIP OUT. There's only one negative thing to having a virtual baby shower and that is not being able to eat any of the amazing dishes/desserts your food blogger friends have come up with. It's legit cry worthy. If you don't believe me, just check out the links below. Seriously, cry worthy. Blackberry Coconut Cupcakes , by Baking a Moment    Blueberry Coconut Meusli Bars , by The Spiffy Cookie    B...

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, stop right now and MAKE.THESE.COOKIES. You might not think that you're craving chocolate and peanut butter or that you're even in the mood for cookies but trust me, you're in the mood for these cookies. They are thick, rich, fudgy, soft, chewy, peanut-buttery, and will basically be one of the most amazing cookies, if not the most amazing cookie, to grace your mouth. I'm so happy that the Mystery Dish ingredient list this month pushed me to use the peanut butter chips I've had in my pantry for forever now. They make these cookies taste exactly like a Reese's peanut butter cup! I know it sounds like I'm saying that with excitement but deep down I'm crying because my thighs are totally in trouble.

I don't always make chocolate chip cookies, but when I do, I like to make them a different way every time. Okay, the first part of that statement isn't true. But the second, SO TRUE. Case in point: here , here , here , and here . I don't even think I can say I have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, because they're all amazing in their own ways. It's like the same way you feel about your children. My cookies are my babies. And yesterday, I gave birth to a beautiful grapeseed oil chocolate chip cookie baby. Okay, that sounds weird. But you understand. Said grapeseed oil chocolate chip cookie baby was soft, chewy, and a little bit crispy around the edges--- basically fulfilling all the requirements of a great chocolate chip cookie. So, it's a keeper! Not that I would ever give any of my children away. Let me know when I overdo it with the child analogies, guys. Okay but seriously, besides the fact that this is a great cookie, it's also ...

So, I guess it's become a tradition to make a red velvet cookie every holiday season. Last year it was these red and white velvet cookies and the year before it was these red velvet cheesecake cookies . This year, it's red velvet kiss cookies...but I broke the habit of using cake mix and made these babies from scratch! I've always been against making red velvet things from scratch because of the copious amounts of red food dye you have to witness go into the recipe. But after getting my hands on Americolor super red gel paste , I feel a lot better about it. A little goes a long way with this gel paste, so I don't have to worry that I might be feeding myself cancer. These cookies are crispy on the outside, delightfully chewy on the inside, and all around addicting. To keep your kisses from melting down like mine did, simply freeze them before placing them onto the cookies-- a step that I clearly didn't have time to do. You'll also have to forgive me ...

I'm gonna keep it real- I'm not the type of food blogger who has recipes lined up weeks ahead before it's time for them to be posted, All my work is usually done 48 hours before a post goes live, sometimes even less. So, when I had to bake and photograph these cookies weeks before I could officially release the recipe, it was torture! I mean, it was nice to have my weekend free-ish and not worry about making something, but these cookies were so darn good, I wanted to tell you about them as soon as possible. Thank god I finally can now! Today is the official reveal day for the 2014 cookie swap . Brace yourselves for the cookie palooza about to hit the interwebs because 500 other bloggers will be revealing their cookie swap recipe for the year as well. If you're still not sure what cookies to make for Santa this year, well, you won't after today. I, for one, think Santa would go nuts over these hot cocoa cookies. I mean, they're everything a cookie s...

Happy 1st of October everyone! I know I say this every month, but wow, September seriously flew right by us! I'm glad it did though, because I've been looking forward to this month and especially this week in particular. This week I'm celebrating #FourDaysofEid! As a Muslim, I observe two major holidays each year. They're both generally referred to as Eid, but the first one is Eid-ul-Fitr which is celebrated after Ramadan and the second one is Eid-ul-Adha, which is celebrated in conclusion of the Islamic pilgrimage season. That's the one going down this Saturday and it's a four day holiday, hence the hashtag! I am sort of celebrating in reverse though, no big deal. Today, and for the next two days that follow, I'll be sharing some delish Eid recipe ideas, all of which will be featuring products from my favorite partyware shop, ModernEid . ModernEid has been creating stylish and contemporary party goods since 2011, and they've been doing a ...

..And pumpkin season officially begins! Who's excited? I have been thinking up so many pumpkin dessert ideas for you guys, so I for one, can't wait! Today, I'm sharing a cookie that doesn't include actual pumpkin as an ingredient but it is packed with delicious pumpkin spice flavor and has a crazy good cream cheese frosting to match. I created this cookie for OXO's Good Cookie Campaign , a campaign dedicated to raising awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research. Besides marking the start of pumpkin season, September is also Childhood Cancer Awareness  month. And each year, OXO hosts a program in support of this cause. For this post you are reading and the many others you will see popping up this month, OXO will donate $100 to the non-profit organization, Cookies for Kids Cancer . And they're not stopping there. OXO will also be donating 25 cents for every specially stickered OXO item sold, so keep a look out for a bright green sticker at p...

Hey everyone! I'll be taking a mini-vacation from the blog this month due to a religious holiday I am observing. But don't you worry, I've got a wonderful group of bloggers filling in for me. First up is Natalie from Life Made Simple . I absolutely adore Natalie's work. She makes whipping up delicious food and taking gorgeous pictures look so effortless! Today, she's sharing an awesome red, white, and blue dessert to add to your menus tomorrow! Take it away Natalie! I’m so happy to be here today! I’ve been dying to share this fun and festive recipe with you! This patriotic funfetti sugar cookie cake is perfect for the 4th and it is so easy to make! Did I mention that it tastes amazing too?! A few days ago I was asked to make some treats for a gathering of about 40 people. I made a batch of my favorite brownies and some snickerdoodle bars too. I think when it comes to feeding a crowd, bars are definitely the way to go. One pan, one batch, no scooping o...

Hey everyone! How was your Mother's Day weekend? Mine was exhausting. I had SO many orders pile up on me and was basically on #teamnosleep the whole weekend. BUT I survived and I am well-rested and super ready to share these amazing chocolate chip cookies with you today! Now I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no, one cannot have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes. Especially not those claiming perfection! Those are the ones you are pretty much obligated to try, EVEN if you have your own perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. There is no limit to the amount of chocolate chip cookie perfection that should grace your mouth. I think that should be everyone's life motto. Anyways, last week was teacher appreciation week and the baker in me couldn't resist making something for my nephew's teacher. I let my nephew do the honors of choosing what we would make and he chose these perfect chocolate chip cookies from Pinch of Yum. I think it'...

In an effort to expand the types of sweets I have on the blog, I present to you something you barely see on here - biscotti.  I have only ever posted one biscotti recipe and that's because I don't really care for biscotti all too much. My mom makes it once in a great while and when she does, her and my dad usually take care of the batch on their own. They enjoy it with their morning and afternoon coffee, and well, I don't drink coffee so that's probably another reason why I don't care for the dunkable cookie. That being said, I care a lot for this particular snickerdoodle-flavored dunkable cookie. It probably helped that I love snickerdoodles to begin with, but man oh man, were these biscotti good. I'll be honest, I did prefer them before they were baked the second time, but even crunchy, they were better than most biscotti I've tasted!

Now that the Super Bowl has come and gone, all focus will turn to the big 14th of February. Which means prepare yourself for the red and pink overload that will soon take over the interwebs. I admit, I do have one or two desserts planned within that color scheme. But I've decided to take it easy on your eyes today, and give you something a little mellowed out.  Ladies and gents, meet my hazelnut linzer cookies. Similar to my original melt-in-your-mouth linzer cookie , except I've added hazelnuts and cinnamon to the dough. And sandwiched them with Nutella. What better way to show your spouse how much you love them than by adding some Nutella to their menu? I mean, we all know Nutella is EXTREMELY hard to share, so making these would be a true act of romance. But forget Valentine's Day for a second. Today actually happens to be a very special holiday in itself. Today is World Nutella Day ! Yes, there is an entire day dedicated to the nation's love of Nutel...